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| Afghanistan |
| Hek, Haqqani used to work with the CIA |
| 2005-12-03 |
| Two former CIA allies in Afghanistan are now fearsome warlords responsible for killing scores of American troops in the escalating border war, intelligence experts told the Daily News. But officials said CIA assessments of Jalaluddin Haqqani and ex-Afghan premier Gulbuddin Hekmatyar are gathering dust instead of being used to fight them. The CIA forged ties with warlords in the 1980s by funding mujahedeen battling the Soviets. "I broke bread with Hekmatyar," recalled Vince Cannistraro, a retired CIA counterterrorism chief. "He dealt with me." Before author Michael Scheuer ran the CIA's Bin Laden Unit, he met Haqqani in the early 1990s and remembered him as a "border brigand out of Kipling." Both ex-spies said neither warlord was a paid CIA agent, but each likely got arms and money indirectly from the spy agency through the Pakistanis. After the Soviets were driven out, mujahedeen like Hekmatyar battled each other. Haqqani later allied with the Taliban until the regime fell following the 9/11 attacks. Now, with help from Al Qaeda-linked Arabs, the duo coordinate increasingly sophisticated attacks on U.S. Special Forces based at dozens of secret camps along the rocky border frontier, where Osama Bin Laden may be hiding among Pashtun tribesmen. Yet some intelligence officials claim CIA dossiers created years ago on the Afghan warlords are useless today and admit they don't share them with frontline U.S. commanders. "I'm not saying there's no benefit, but tactically I'm not sure what went on 20 years ago has any bearing today," said a skeptical U.S. official in Washington, who tracks the insurgency. But one secret U.S. warrior who recently hunted border insurgents was shocked to learn of the CIA's past relationships with the enemy leaders, adding, "The information would have been extremely useful." Scheuer said, "You'd know the whole lay of the land if you reviewed the information we had." "Know thy enemy. If you don't factor in that knowledge, you're fighting blind," Cannistraro said. Pentagon analysts taking a different stance than the CIA discovered that Haqqani's son Saraj now has operational control of a network with deep ties to Bin Laden's henchmen. "[Haqqani's] organization has remained intact from the Soviet era, and are much more closely aligned with the Arabs than [the Taliban are]," a defense intelligence official told The News. Haqqani has Arab backers providing Al Qaeda jihadists to lead his Pashtun fighters against U.S. forces. "The Arabs go on operations and help them do it in a smarter way," said the official. Well-funded Arabs in a war that escalated even after the Sept. 18 election are a troubling sign that Afghans have won support from Gulf financiers who have also thrown money at Iraqi rebels, officials said. Arab "advisers" were with Pashtun guerrillas on June 28 when they shot down a chopper rescuing a Navy SEAL team in northeastern Afghanistan, killing 19. A chopper in southern Afghanistan on Sept. 25 was also downed by a rocket-propelled grenade, killing five, officials disclosed. "When you have a helicopter shot down in Kunar [Province] and then one in Zabul, it's obvious that there are some strategic decisions being made at above the tactical operation level," said a defense intelligence official. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #10 Thanks OP, I gather from what you've said, in lieu of a complete CIA overhaul, the best we can hope for is for Porter to dismantle as many of the Clintoon Click he can by firing, and transfering any leftovers to paper clip ops. ..and bringing in non Ivy-Leaguer to fill the vacant desks. thats better than nothin, lets hope he has some drag upstairs and a bit of luck. |
| Posted by: Red Dog 2005-12-03 20:39 |
| #9 I worked at NPIC (Nat'l Photo Interpretation Center - it's been changed twice at least since then) in DC for almost a year in 1980, as a reservist. That's the only area that I know intimately. The ratio of worker/management was about 70/30 then. I've heard it's close to the same today, but I don't know for sure. The figure of CIA employees is deceptive, as there are dozens of "commercial firms" that do contract work for the Agency in everything from data management to janitorial services to clandestine operations. The problems with the CIA isn't that it's heavily bureaucratic, but that it's been growing extremely more politicized every year since about 1975. Part of the problem is the propensity to hire ONLY Ivy-League grads for many departments. This was even true of NPIC - many of the people hired didn't know a GAZ-66 from a MIG-21 when they were hired, but rapidly became "managers". The Clintons, of course, did everything possible to ensure total control over the CIA in perpetuity through appointments, favorable hiring practices, and the use of political clout to force those who weren't willing to be so thoroughly compromised to retire. The best thing Bush could do would be to dismantle both the CIA and State, and start over. Unfortunately, we don't have the luxury of doing that in the midst of the current war. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2005-12-03 18:21 |
| #8 The two were ISI favorites. We didn’t get to pick and choose who we funded. I believe we channeled some support to Massoud though the Brits. If Crile's account of the CIA operation is accurate, I think the control of the Stingers was done really well and probably prevented their use against us. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2005-12-03 14:52 |
| #7 One mistake made by the CIA was relying on the ISI to handle the jihadis. ISI armed and funded the most extreme ones (Hek and other vermin) knowing full well their anti-american orientation. |
| Posted by: john 2005-12-03 13:59 |
| #6 Maybe they want us to think OBL is there. |
| Posted by: Danielle 2005-12-03 10:38 |
| #5 This is typical NY bullshit. Warlords are businessmen, businessmen in the business of crime. Drugs, women, arms, killings. What would they have to gain by fighting Americans? Why would they want to have more U.S. troops to their squalid little region? Especially if O.B.L. is there. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2005-12-03 09:57 |
| #4 Hek is being used as cover by the ISI to divert attention from the real trouble makers and the ISI hands behind them. |
| Posted by: john 2005-12-03 06:26 |
| #3 Hek used to run an English language website. Prior to 9-11 his main theme was to beg for admission into the Taliban, with whom he initially challenged. I have doubts that he is capable of even raising a tin pot terror force. If he did, he would be targeted by both government (and Coalition) jihadi forces. |
| Posted by: CaziFarkus 2005-12-03 06:16 |
| #2 CIA 30,000 +/- employees supposedly The CIA has a very top heavy staff ratio vs. "enlisted employees". What kind of numbers/% would you hazard as dead wood cya types, who put career before duty to one's country Oldspook. upper mgmt maybe, who set the mission? |
| Posted by: Red Dog 2005-12-03 04:33 |
| #1 Another great example of deskbound old-boys dicking over the field operatives and military people, the old "THey dont need to know this" BS being used as a coverup of the old boys ties. Bastards are embarassed they made deals with the lesser devil (Islamsists) to get rid of the larger devil (Soviets) and are trying to make it look unimportant and bury it by hushing people up instead of doing them in after they turned, liek they were supposed to. Hold your enemies close, and your "friends" closer. Cripes, the CIA really needs a purge. |
| Posted by: Oldspook 2005-12-03 03:34 |